Newsletter

🗳 It’s Election Day in District 8

Newsletter for Tuesday, Mar 06 2018

March = everything’s green

Today's the day. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. as voters in Pittsburgh City Council District 8 will choose the council person to replace Dan Gilman, who won in November but left the seat to be chief of staff to Mayor Bill Peduto. The surprise election has been a surprisingly interesting one with four candidates on the ballot and an unusual amount of money spent. Need to get up to speed quickly? Check out our procrastinator's guide.

Pittsburgh City Council member Corey O'Connor is expected to propose legislation today that would make accessing records about elected officials' conflicts of interest easier. It would call for a website to house information about elected officials, including other employment, affiliations with city departments and groups, professional organizations and political committees in an easy-to-read format. It would also provide that information about lobbyists representing Pittsburgh in Harrisburg and Washington D.C. Learn more about this proposal.

On Monday, the medical marijuana dispensary in Squirrel Hill was closed because of a supply shortage, WPXI reported. And that's part of a statewide shortage, two weeks into the medical marijuana sales as all six dispensaries across Pa. get their medical marijuana from one grower. Trent Hartley, co-founder of Cresco Yeltrah, which owns that one growing operation, said the demand has been much higher than anticipated. But the largest harvest yet is expected in the next two weeks.

The Incline Likes

Roughly 8,700 ballots were cast in the Elite Eight of the Ultimate Pittsburgh Fish Fry, and it's down to the Final Four. The Elite Eight match ups were mostly close — one race even had a 49 percent to 51 percent split. Find out who advanced and make sure to vote by 10 a.m. Monday, March 12.

A 1973 Volkswagen bus will soon be driving around Pittsburgh and offering burritos, chips, guacamole and queso, per Good Food Pittsburgh. Obviously named the Burrito Bus, the idea comes from Erin and Mike Carney, the duo behind Pittsburgh Sandwich Society. And they'll get a hand from Kevin Heenan of the Sugar and Spice Ice Cream truck who is doing the renovations. Plans are for a Burrito Bus debut in late April.